On April 23, 2018, a white van mounted the curb on Yonge Street and ran down pedestrians enjoying a warm, spring day. It moved almost 2km before the driver was arrested but 10 people ranging from 22 to 94 were killed.

On April 29, a vigil was held at Mel Lastman Square, which was along the section of Yonge where this incident happened. Various religious leaders as well as the political elite attended to show the city's resilience.

A citizen's memorial has appeared across the street near where the van first mounted the sidewalk at Yonge and Finch. Among the 10 killed were a South Korean international student and a Jordanian visiting his son.

I have actually covered North York in one of my previous Toronto threads. For more on this part of Yonge Street from my 2017 collection, click here or visit my website.

I have been quite lucky with the flight paths so far this year with many aerial opportunities over the city. Some of the close-ups might give you a perception Toronto is a very dense city, but step back a bit, and you will soon see there are so many lowrises even in the centre of town.

Then there is all that unsustainable suburban sprawl.

Strip malls line the main corridors. This is a stretch of Hwy 7 in Markham, a northern suburb.

Heading west, the landscape becomes more industrial. A recent subway extension opened to this part of town recently. Why they chose this instead of intensifying or finishing a half-done subway line in the city is a mystery. Politicians are not good transit planners.

On December 17, 2017, the 8.6km Line 1 subway extension opened to Vaughan, marking the first time the subway has crossed the Toronto city border. Of the 6 new subway stations, 2 are located in York Region, accounting for 2.4km of track. The $3.2 billion extension was funded by the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. During my visit, the trains and stations were mostly empty.

Guess they couldn't afford platform-screen doors either.

Let's head downtown for a more urban experience. St. Lawrence Market has a number of cooked food places to grab a lunch. One particular restaurant always has a line. I tried their lobster roll and it was quite good. They didn't cheap out on the materials!

Fresh Canadian oysters from PEI could be shuckled in front of you for as low as $2.25 each! They're more expensive than the Sydney Fish Market but tasted just as fresh.

Satisfied with lunch, I explored around for some more culinary inspiration.

The market is close enough to the financial district for office workers to reach during the warmer months.

These old streetcars have been around for way beyond their life expectancy. Manufacturing issues have delayed the implementation of new rolling stock so they will continue to ply the streets for some time to come.

With more residential developments appearing downtown, hopefully the streetcars can fill up a bit more. Transit ridership growth hasn't been quite good in recent years.

Americans of a progressive bent are often quick to praise places like Canada for getting urban planning right where the U.S. gets it wrong, so it's interesting to see criticism of a major Canadian city for the same kinds of mistakes that happen down south.

Strangely enough, those new subway stations remind me a lot of the E-train stations all the way at the eastern end of the New York City subway in Jamaica, Queens. Those stations opened about 30 years ago, so that's not very high praise for Toronto. Unlike the new Toronto stations, though, the Queens ones are extremely busy.

Strangely enough, those new subway stations remind me a lot of the E-train stations all the way at the eastern end of the New York City subway in Jamaica, Queens. Those stations opened about 30 years ago, so that's not very high praise for Toronto. Unlike the new Toronto stations, though, the Queens ones are extremely busy.

I haven't seen the stations in person yet, but I agree, they do look disappointingly utilitarian. However, several of them are uniquely designed on the outside; Pioneer Village station being the most notable.

Americans of a progressive bent are often quick to praise places like Canada for getting urban planning right where the U.S. gets it wrong, so it's interesting to see criticism of a major Canadian city for the same kinds of mistakes that happen down south.

Strangely enough, those new subway stations remind me a lot of the E-train stations all the way at the eastern end of the New York City subway in Jamaica, Queens. Those stations opened about 30 years ago, so that's not very high praise for Toronto. Unlike the new Toronto stations, though, the Queens ones are extremely busy.

Good planning doesn't mean that a society is isolated and unaffected by its setting and context; it means that it does its best to address the challenges its setting and context pose. In this case, it doesn't mean that a metro area experiencing rapid population growth in an affluent, low density, new world country won't have any sprawl, it means that it tries to reduce the percentage of growth on the periphery relative to infill, make the sprawl more dense, set aside a greenbelt, and ensure new developments have transit access and encourage TODs. The idea that simply having good planning would prevent a NA metro area with high post war population growth from having any sprawl isn't very realistic.

In terms of the subway stations, they're in suburban areas not comparable to Queens with one intended to act as a major transit hub where express buses provide large suburban populations with with previously limited transit access with a new rapid transit connection as well as to shape future suburban development in a denser more transit oriented pattern. Perhaps that's where some of the planning discussions originated. And if they bear a similarity to stations that have successfully served parts of one of the world's busiest and most success transit systems for a third of a century, that's not something I would consider negative.

However, the subway extension has definitely received a lot criticism since the system's most pressing problem is over crowding in certain stretches, and the money spent on this extension could have gone a long way toward enhancing services in central areas. Whether or not this was the best use of funds is certainly a valid debate. However, the idea that it won't be well used seems a bit far fetched. It's extremely new now with travel and development patterns not yet adapted, but if we look at even the system's shortest and least used line, "Sheppard line 4," which has long been criticised for low ridership, despite being in an entirely suburban area still has a higher average riderhsip per km than any line in the Chicago L system for example. Including the busiest Red line.

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"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw

Fantastic pics. Always fascinating to see Toronto documented since like a lot of modern cities, it's always in flux. Even Toronto 5 years from now will probably be almost unrecognizable with the exception of Rogers and the CN Tower...

While North York's centre along Yonge Street is lined with highrise residentials and office buildings, the density tapers off quite quickly blocks away. Single family detached houses are common just off the large arterial roads.

The widest highway I have ever driven on, the 401 crosses east-to-west and looks incredibly intimidating.

In the 19th century, this part of the city was a rural farming area. The Zion Schoolhouse was built in 1869 to give free education to the farming community's children. It only had 1 classroom, which was used for all grades.

With more residential developments appearing downtown, hopefully the streetcars can fill up a bit more. Transit ridership growth hasn't been quite good in recent years.

This is kind of an odd comment though. The streetcars have a daily ridership of 300,000 (out of 2.75 million total on the TTC), and overcrowding is a big problem. Ridership growth has been stagnant moreso because the TTC has become a victim of its own success, with most routes already operating at or above capacity (and with the huge influx of residents downtown, most are opting to walk or bike instead). That, and fare evasion has skyrocketed ever since they (poorly) implemented the proof-of-payment system on surface routes.

This is kind of an odd comment though. The streetcars have a daily ridership of 300,000 (out of 2.75 million total on the TTC), and overcrowding is a big problem. Ridership growth has been stagnant moreso because the TTC has become a victim of its own success, with most routes already operating at or above capacity (and with the huge influx of residents downtown, most are opting to walk or bike instead). That, and fare evasion has skyrocketed ever since they (poorly) implemented the proof-of-payment system on surface routes.

The TTC gives very different reasons for its falling ridership numbers, and "victim of its own success" is not one of them.

Soaring 72 stories tall, First Canadian Place opened its doors in 1975. Its white marble decor remains fresh and smart today.

First opened in 1994, the CBC Museum closed its doors in December 2017 with its exhibits slated to move to Ottawa. However, some items continue to be on display in the basement, tucked away behind the escalators.